Is my CPU/RAM bottlenecking my GTX 1080?

[Zyphercap]

Hi there,

I just installed a brand new GTX 1080. I play fps games like Overwatch and CS:GO and aim to lock my fps at roughly 180 (my monitor's refresh rate) and never have it dip below that value in order to have smooth gameplay and consistent input lag. But so far I've been very disappointed at my GTX 1080's performance in Overwatch, averaging around 180fps and sometimes dropping to 120fps on Overwatch on 1080p with the lowest possible graphics settings. I was kind of expecting it to never drop below 180 fps on nearly the highest settings, I'm not sure if that is realistic but either way this fps is too low, it's only like 10% higher than my terrible old Radeon RX470 while it should be almost 3 times as good. I feel like it should never go below 300fps with my system and the lowest settings on 1080P, yet here I am sitting at 120 fps in hectic teamfights.

Specs:
CPU: i5-4690k, overclocked to 4,5ghz
Graphics card: Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1080 Gaming 1
RAM: 8gb corsair DDR3 dual-channel
PSU: Seasonic M12ii 620W
Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 5
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO

So I don't have an i7 but I'm inclined to think an i5-4690k running at 4,5ghz should be enough to not bottleneck a GTX 1080?

I also know my RAM isn't exactly high tier (only 8GB and DDR3) but could that cause my fps to be this low?

I've already uninstalled and reinstalled the NVIDIA drivers, it did not make a difference.

For what it's worth, I tried benchmarking with 3DMark Firestrike and get scores of about 23k on the graphics part and 9k on the physics part. Not sure if that's good or not but just thought I'd mention it in case something is off there.

Does it seem like my cpu or ram is bottlenecking my GTX 1080, and if so how can I make sure? If not, does anyone have any ideas what else could be going on here?

EDIT: My brother with an i5 running at 3,5ghz and a GTX 970 gpu is consistently getting above 220 fps in Overwatch with the exact same settings, so I'm highly sceptical about the problem being the CPU atm.

 

[Dunlop0078]

It will bottleneck a 1080 if you give it the proper conditions, which you certainly have. At 1080p low settings in overwatch the CPU is almost certainly going to be the bottleneck, try bumping the settings up to medium I bet framerate stays about the same. With a very low graphics workload, the CPU is going to be what determines how much fps you get.

What is CPU usage on the individual cores while playing overwatch?

 

[Tom72468]

With an increase of only 10% over the RX470, it does sound like a bottleneck, but I would think your CPU should be fine, and RAM definitely is. Monitor your CPU usage while playing, and if it's at or near 100%, there's your bottleneck. What else is different between your brother's computer and yours? Also, is 180fps really necessary?

 

[bystander]

Your CPU is fine, it just isn't going to let you have as many FPS as you thought you'd get. Realistically, 120 FPS is more than enough for the game. No CPU is going to avoid being the bottleneck in those games at low settings (and perhaps up to high) while using a GTX 1080.

 

[Zyphercap]

It will bottleneck a 1080 if you give it the proper conditions, which you certainly have. At 1080p low settings in overwatch the CPU is almost certainly going to be the bottleneck, try bumping the settings up to medium I bet framerate stays about the same. With a very low graphics workload, the CPU is going to be what determines how much fps you get.

What is CPU usage on the individual cores while playing overwatch?

I've tried playing on higher graphics settings and it indeed doesn't change much when i go to medium or higher, just like 5-10 fps per step. CPU usage on all cores is 100% while playing. I think I've configured it a while back to always run 100% cpu on Overwatch.

With an increase of only 10% over the RX470, it does sound like a bottleneck, but I would think your CPU should be fine, and RAM definitely is. Monitor your CPU usage while playing, and if it's at or near 100%, there's your bottleneck. What else is different between your brother's computer and yours? Also, is 180fps really necessary?

CPU is at 100% while playing Overwatch, but I've got it configured like that for maximum performance. 180 fps is not absolutely necessary but definitely helpful in games like Overwatch and cs:go. I have a 180hz monitor, and higher fps=less input lag. I play these games at a high competitive level and most players try to get as much fps as they can get consistently to have low and consistent input lag.


I've also monitored my GPU usage in MSI Afterburner, it has not gone above 30% while playing Overwatch. How do I interpret this; is my GPU not working to it's full potential, or is there simply nothing more to do in Overwatch at low graphics settings so it remains on low gpu usage?

 

[Dunlop0078]

What is CPU usage at idle? Something else might be hogging your cpu resources.

 

[bystander]

CPU is at 100% while playing Overwatch, but I've got it configured like that for maximum performance. 180 fps is not absolutely necessary but definitely helpful in games like Overwatch and cs:go. I have a 180hz monitor, and higher fps=less input lag. I play these games at a high competitive level and most players try to get as much fps as they can get consistently to have low and consistent input lag.


I've also monitored my GPU usage in MSI Afterburner, it has not gone above 30% while playing Overwatch. How do I interpret this; is my GPU not working to it's full potential, or is there simply nothing more to do in Overwatch at low graphics settings so it remains on low gpu usage?

You interpret that as normal usage for those games. People play those at the same FPS using GTX 750ti's. Those are very old, low graphically demanding games. The CPU is what is going to determine your FPS. You'd have been better off with a GTX 1050ti, and an i5 7600k, not that what you have isn't good enough.

Before looking at the benchmarks, notice they are using Ultra settings, and the GTX 1080 is bottlenecked by the CPU. You should also be aware that with real world performance, in actual multiplayer action, the CPU becomes a bigger bottleneck.

Look at these benchmarks: https://www.techspot.com/review/1180-overwatch-benchmarks/page2.html

CPU results (seems the i7 are better):

 

[Zyphercap]

What is CPU usage at idle? Something else might be hogging your cpu resources.

CPU usage at idle is 4%-5% so I don't think that's the case